Many people think they’re taking great care of their teeth. They brush and floss, but they still end up having problems.
I wrote this post with those people in mind: the ones that want to have better, healthier teeth, but don’t know quite where to start. Even if you know that you’ll end up needing crowns or veneers on your teeth, it’s important to have excellent oral hygiene so that your future dental work will last a long time.
Here’s five simple things you can do to get better teeth.
How to Get Better Teeth: 5 Things You Can Do Today
1 – Floss
Many people don’t want to floss because they think it’s too hard. Before I talk any more about flossing, go ahead and read the following quote from Kevin McCallister in Home Alone:
I took a shower washing every body part with actual soap; including all my major crevices; including inbetween my toes and in my belly button, which I never did before but sort of enjoyed.
Neglecting to floss is like simply taking a shower without cleaning all of your major crevices!
Learn more about the right way to floss by reading these 10 flossing mistakes.
2 – Brush for At Least Two Minutes
How long do you spend brushing your teeth every day? A lot of people only brush for 30 seconds or so. By brushing for two minutes, you will allow the fluoride in your toothpaste to spend more time providing your teeth with its many benefits.
When you brush, do you remember to brush all sides of your teeth?
3 – Only Eat Sugar with Your Meals
Every time you eat, the pH in your mouth drops to a level where it can hurt your teeth. You can see a graph of this process in the article What Happens in Your Mouth Every Time You Eat or Drink.
The more times you eat in a day, the more times your teeth get hurt. By eating your sugary snacks with a meal rather than on their own, you will be reducing the number of times that your teeth come under attack.
You can try substituting fruit or vegetables for a sugary snack or simply have a great-tasting chewing gum.
4 – Don’t Sweeten Your Coffee & Tea With Sugar
Try sweetening your drinks with xylitol or an artificial sweetener. The bacteria in your mouth would love to get their hands on some sugar so they can hurt your teeth. If you starve them, you’ll have better teeth!
Learn more about what xylitol is and how it protects your teeth.
5 – Don’t Drink Soda Pop In Between Meals
The main theme of the last three items on this list is that sugar is an enemy to your teeth. Soda pop combines sugar and acid to wreak havoc on your teeth.
If you’re thirsty between meals, water and milk are good choices, and I’m not the only one saying that: the textbook Dental Caries
Ideally, you would cut soda pop out of your diet, but who wants to do that?! If you absolutely must have your sugary, carbonated fix, check out these guidelines on how to drink soda pop and keep your teeth happy.
Conclusion
Hopefully you can try at least one of these five suggestions so that you can be on your way to having better teeth.
Do you have any questions or comments about how to get great teeth? I’d love to hear what you have to say in the comments section below. Thanks for reading!
